How a Dream Day Updated a Bucket List

This week, the City of San Francisco held a parade to celebrate their dream accomplishment – a celebration many long years in the making.

Our family have been Giants baseball fans for generations. For my Mom, it’s been HER dream to witness a big parade like this in person.

“A ‘bucket list’ item,” she said.

So it was obvious we had to find a way to go and be a part of the celebration.

It meant rescheduling work and school and getting up really early, fighting commute traffic and parking issues – and accepting the fact that even if we were there on time, we may not get to see a thing.

We got lucky and actually found parking. If you know San Francisco, that is a dream accomplishment in itself on any day, much less a day they were expecting a million people to line Market Street.

Because we were early, we walked the route – and after careful consideration Mom suggested our vantage point. We ended up on a corner at the turn where the parade would naturally have to slow down.

It was on the edge of the park where the trophy presentations were going to be made — and the thought was that we could just walk up the park to watch the ceremony once the parade passed by.

She also chose this spot for me, the aspiring wanna-be top photographer.

She kept saying “oh, I think you could get some incredible shots from here”. I felt excited, proud and little bit nervous that I was gonna be the one responsible to capture this moment for her.

But once the parade started our incredible spot quickly vanished.

It was like they came out of nowhere. Fans hopped the fences and stood on barricades. Arms in the air, people holding signs, cell phones and cameras became a tall human screen, making the ‘incredible shots’ my mom had hoped for from me nearly impossible.

I also knew right then that my mom’s dreams of seeing this parade up close were not gonna happen either. My aspiring photographer’s heart sank.

I looked over at my mom expecting to see disappointment. I mean my God, we were right there at such a historical event. But maybe it would have been more fulfilling for her (and creative for me) to stay home, sit on the couch and take pictures of the parade on the TV screen.

She was standing in her spot next to my Dad, surrounded by a few other TALL people. Her head was down, and she seemed a little emotional. I touched her hands and she looked over at me — and she was smiling. “I can’t believe it. I’m just so glad we are here.”

It was at that point I put the camera away and committed to being in the moment with my family – because it didn’t matter if I got “incredible shots”.

The images I ended up with document our experience, and a dream accomplishment for my Mom.

They were –

The Golden Gate Bridge at dawn

Blurry cable-car floats with waving players

Lots of backs

A few ‘creative’ shots by holding the camera above my head randomly clicking around

A few of the ground and the sky (inadvertent)

And one of me and my son

She loved them.

To watch my Mom cross something off of her bucket list after all those years was such a validation to me on the importance of never giving up on your dreams. We both believe you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

This week, take some time to think about the people in your life that are important to you.

Until next photo,

Rem

Remy’s dream is creating opportunities for photography showings and public displays of her work

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